“He asked, and I let him go with another brother. We bought him a house here… He did not need money. He was like a son to me, he grew up with me since he was seven months old.

“I tried to dissuade him, but he went anyway. He worked for Yandex Food for a little more than a month, and he liked it there. He told me he had bought a bicycle for 40,000 RUB (385 GBP) to deliver food.

Colleagues said Artyk had collapsed and fallen off his bicycle after delivering fast food meals to the company’s customers for 10 straight hours.

Artyk had reportedly complained of feeling unwell when he bought a snack from a kebab stall shortly before he collapsed.

Russia’s State Labour Inspectorate has launched an investigation into his death which will consider whether the country’s employment laws have been breached.

Bosses whose actions cause the death of their workers can be banned from running companies and even face sentences of up to four years’ forced labour or jail.

A Yandex Food spokesman said the company had also launched its own internal inquiry.

He said: “We are waiting for the results of a medical examination which will clarify the causes of death. We contacted Artyk’s family and are now in touch with them to help in this terrible situation.”

The spokesman added the company was exploring ways to use technology to ensure its couriers did not work long hours without taking breaks.